comb ridge

[BFD]

anyone rode the ridge from 95 to 163? Is it legal? Just curious because it looks awesome. Can PM if legal issues. Also is there one map for Utah that shows areas closed to bikes?

[Dantheman]

Never done it. Looks like it could be a long ride with the convoluted terrain. You'd probably end up taking a pretty sinuous path, especially if you want to stay near the rim. Generally, anything outside of a Wilderness area that isn't specifically marked as closed to bikes is legal. Slickrock zones like this are definitely fair game.

[jono]

This sounds very cool! I want to ride that, too. I stopped in at Four Corners Adventures in Bluff last fall and asked about that or anything similar in the area. The guy I talked to (local and a rider) was pretty helpful but didn't have anything to offer on Comb Ridge. He did go into some detail about having ridden on the rock above Bluff, though. Apparently parking to the north/east of town just east of the highway gives good access to a lot of slickrock, "just don't fall off the cliffs."

He was concerned about what would happen with the Monument at the time, since his riding may not have been well enough established as an existing use and he thought that was going to be decisive (late 2017). Curious what came to pass on that.

[panchosdad]

There was this today on Pinkbike:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/bike-b...e-in-utah.html

Doesn't make it look that appealing from a biking standpoint.

[BFD]

thanks for the link. looks like they were south of 163. Have not been in that area. Not sure what the ridge looks like there. Could be an easier place to start as the section is shorter 163 to river.

[AlpiNord]

It looks like they ended up north of 163, but the cave image makes me wonder if that was Fishmouth cave, up Butler, not Comb as stated. Comb & Butler Wash both have lots of sand. I've never thought of Comb Ridge as ride-able nor would it seem 'right' for some reason. Maybe the Butler Wash side more so than the Comb Wash side. FWIW, I went through the 95 Comb Ridge cut this weekend.

It's not that long of a distance south of 163 to the San Juan and have hiked the wash from the pullout (tons of Tamarisk) just west the 191 intersection. It seems like interesting terrain north and south of 163 for possible riding. Further north and past 95, it looks to get pretty challenging for riding.

[BFD]

looked at it a little better, maybe they put in at 191 ride up Comb Wash come down Butler. Sort of fits with the 35 more miles to go.

[Dantheman]

There was this today on Pinkbike:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/bike-b...e-in-utah.html

Doesn't make it look that appealing from a biking standpoint.

Looks like they were just down on the wash road(s) rather than BFD's idea of traversing the ridge. On Google Earth it looks like the ridge is "rideable" in the sense that it's about 95% slickrock, but the possible route is probably far from straightforward. Going to be lots of side-to-side and up-and-down and probably some backtracking (or a lot). Could be pretty brutal.